European Space Agency to Launch Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Satellite
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 05. 2.08
Knowledge is power. The European Space Agency is set to launch a new satellite that will give us more information about soil moisture all over our planet. Takeoff is planned for next fall.
Soil moisture directly affects the Earth's weather and climate, and better understanding it will lead to a better understanding of global warming. "Currently, weather forecasting models do not include real-time measurements of soil moisture content as part of their programs. Once scientists can better measure soil moisture, especially over large land masses such as North America, this missing piece can be included in weather prediction models, making for more complete and more accurate predictions, says Hornbuckle. And satellites can provide global coverage at the lowest cost."
We hope that the launch will go well and that soon SMOS will help us understand nature a little bit better.
You can see an animation of the deployment on the CNES SMOS website along with some specifications.
Satellites and Space
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More on the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite
::How Dry We Are: European Space Agency To Test Earth's Soil Moisture Via Satellite
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